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A former senate leader, Ali Ndume, says the party leadership has not asked him not to contest as senate president in the ninth national assembly.

Sen. Ndume spoke with journalists in Lagos on Monday, indicating that at no time has the All Progressives Congress (APC) asked him not to run for the position of senate president.

According to him, Adams Oshiomhole, national chairman of the APC, had explained that the party only recommended Ahmad Lawan as the preferred choice and had not imposed him on the senators.

“I have written the party, indicating my intention to contest. Even my national chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, publicly said they only recommended Lawan and not that they are stopping anybody,” Ndume said.

“As I speak with you, nobody has consulted me to say ‘don’t run for Senate President’. Everybody has the constitutional right to do that.”

The lawmaker said he joined the race to win since he has the support of his colleagues and party leaders to contend for the position.

“We have 109 senators and each of them have one vote. If you are contesting to be the Senate President, you have to reach out. But at the beginning, I was cautious because I am a party man. So, when the party said ‘don’t go there,’ I did not,” he said.

“But the party came out again and said, ‘You can reach out to them now,’ so I reached out to them.

“So far, the response I am getting from my colleagues from the APC and other parties is very encouraging. I am in this race to win; I am talking to everybody. I have the telephone numbers of all the 109 senators-elect and I call them.

The lawmaker had in April released a documentwhich contained his nine-point agenda for his tenure, if elected the senate president.

A former Senate Leader, Ali Ndume , has said he will emerge as the Senate President of the Ninth National Assembly .

The senator said this in an interview with journalists in Lagos on Monday .
He said he was confident because he had the support of his colleagues in the Senate and the leaders of the All Progressives Congress .

Ndume said he was not in the race to bargain for juicy position , saying he had done his homework .

He stated that no party leader had asked him to withdraw for anyone , adding that the National Chairman of the APC, Adams Oshiomhole , had explained that the party only recommended Senator Ahmad Lawan as the preferred choice and had not imposed him on the senators .

He said , “ We have 109 senators and each of them have one vote. If you are contesting to be the Senate President , you have to reach out . But at the beginning , I was cautious because I am a party man .

So , when the party said ‘ don ’ t go there , ’ I did not .

“ But the party came out again and said , ‘ You can reach out to them now, ’ so I reached out to them.

“ So far , the response I am getting from my colleagues from the APC and other parties is very encouraging . I am in this race to win ; I am talking to everybody. I have the telephone numbers of all the 109 senators – elect and I call them.

“ I have written the party , indicating my intention to contest. Even my national chairman , Adams Oshiomhole , publicly said they only recommended Lawan and not that they are stopping anybody .

“ As I speak with you , nobody has consulted me to say ‘ don ’ t run for Senate President ’ . Everybody has the constitutional right to do that . ”

Ndume , who represents Borno South in the Senate , promised to improve upon the performance of the Eighth Senate.

He promised to make the Office of the Senate President less attractive by reducing the unnecessary privileges attached to the office .

While promising to uphold the independence of the legislative arm of government , the third – time Senator promised to “work harmoniously and inter – dependently with the executive without undermining the principle of separation of power . ”

The lawmaker said the North – East deserved an articulate representative as Senate President , adding that the region had suffered huge devastation with property worth over N 2 tn destroyed by insurgents .

Ndume , who said if given the opportunity , he would not compromise the independence of the legislature, added that his chances of becoming the next Senate President were bright .

A group known as the North Central APC Ambassadors has staged a protest to the party’s national secretariat seeking the zoning of the position of Speaker, House of Representatives, to the North Central region.

The group argued that the North Central was responsible for about 2.4 million votes for President Muhammadu Buhari during the general elections in which he emerged victorious.

Their position was contained in a letter dated April 1, 2019 and addressed to National Chairman of APC, Adams Oshiomhole. The group insisted that the zone should be rewarded with the position in view of the number of votes it delivered to the President during the poll.

According to The Guardian Nigeria, the letter, signed by five state coordinators of the zone and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), comprised Muyideen Yusuf (Kwara), Rita Longjap (Plateau), Muhammad Ibn Muhammad (Niger), Lucas Cassius (Nasarawa), Yahaya Dauda (FCT) and Shehu Araga (Kogi).

It argued that since the North West has the President, South West has the Vice President, while the Senate President has been zoned to the North East, the House Speakership should naturally be zoned to North Central.

A national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, says the party’s decision will reign supreme regarding the leadership tussle of the 9th national assembly.

he made this statement while addressing journalists in Lagos on Friday. Tinubu said the party’s choice must be respected and whoever is against such should kindly leave the party.

According to NAN, the APC leader cautioned lawmakers againt a repeat of what the APC suffered in 2015 when some of its lawmakers connived with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) which was the minority, and elected those against the party’s choice as principal officers.

The ruling APC expects to produce the next principal officers after an emerging majority in both chambers of the national assembly. It has 25 seats more than the PDP in the Senate and is clearly ahead of PDP by 100 seats in the house of representatives.

While this does not necessarily stand in line with the dictates of the constitution or House Rules, the APC believes this is important to guarantee the smooth running of the government.

The party already endorsed Ahmad Lawan and Femi Gbajabiamila as their preferred candidates for senate president and speaker respectively.

He also recalled his journey as a politician, saying there were lots of struggles “but my concern is about people and the future of my country”.

According to him, “my mother stood by me when I told her then that I was joining politics. She told me to be ready to take all sorts of insults whenever they cross my way. May her soul rest in peace.

“The struggle was tough. It created a justice on June 12 election of MKO and some people deserted the camp, the struggle, the spirit. We have stayed with this struggle. We know democracy is not easy but it is the only system of government that we chose.

“Ever since, it has been a very fulfilling journey. There is always the twist and turns in politics. Today, we endure, we persevere, we think, adjust, collaborate, merged and became single party just like yesterday.”

Bola Tinubu, a national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has confessed that the Party was a bit careless in the handling of the National Assembly leadership issue.

He said this while addressing journalists in Lagos on Friday, Tinubu said the party’s choice will be respected.

According to NAN, the APC leader warned against what the APC suffered in 2015 when some of its lawmakers connived with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) which was the minority, and elected those against the party’s choice as principal officers.

Tinubu said the party will not tolerate what happened in 2015, while adding that party discipline is key

He said: “We were a little careless in 2015. We created the opportunity for serpent to get into our party and that did not allow Nigeria to make the desired progress.

“You have seen the result of it and we are not going to allow that to happen again. We are going to respect our party and we are going to apply the whip.

“It is either you stay with us or you follow us or you leave. You have the freedom to choose but the freedom does not give you as a minority to go and collaborate and protrude our mandate given to you to another party who was our opposition and who is still our opposition.

“We would not take that this time, no matter who you think you are. That is how it is built. Why do you want to deviate from what has been structured? We look at our reward system equally, zone by zone.”